


The bad e word

by Vallkyr



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 16:30:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13217667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vallkyr/pseuds/Vallkyr
Summary: What happens after the eliminations and when ot9 is finally back again.





	1. Minho

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wanted to post this a lot year but oh well. Happy new year everyone! xD

Tense silence filled the dorm when everyone entered. Most of them were still in the hallway but their second team had already run off into their separate rooms. It was obvious how upset they were, all of them were. But Changbin and Felix had been on Minho's team, of course it would affect them the most. Well except for Minho himself of course. Jisung was the first one to react, quickly running after Minho. Chan exchanged a quick look with Seungmin, making sure that he would check on Changbin before Chan himself followed Felix.

~

Jisung carefully peeked into his room but Minho wasn't anywhere to be seen. He stepped in further and looked around the corner, finding the elder lay some clothes on a piece of cloth.

“Hyung? What are you doing?”

“Packing my bundles so I can put them into my suitcase?”

“Now?”

“Yes? I mean I have to pack my clothes a-and my all my other stuff and I still have to tell my parents that I'm coming back home and then I need to get to practice, you know. I-”

“Hyung.” Before Minho could speak up again his boyfriend took his hands in his own and pulled him away from his bed where his soon-to-be bundle was laying. “How about you calm down first?”

“Why? What do you mean? I have to-”

“No. If anything you have to calm down.”

“But-”

“We have time, okay? Look at me.” Minho did look up but his expression still seemed uneasy, almost chased. “First of all you have to calm down.”

“Jisungie, I have to-”

“No. You were just kicked out of our group. You need time to process that. **We** need time to process that.” Trying and failing to hold back his tears any longer, Jisung tightened his hold around his boyfriend's hands. The latter just remains frozen and unable to really say anything. “I don't want to loose you.”

“Jisung...”

“S-sorry. I'm sorry, I came here to help you and now I-” He wanted to wipe his tears away with his sleeve but Minho quickly did it for him before hugging him close. “I... I- I'm sorry.” The words nearly got lost between the sobs.

“Don't be.”

“But I should have helped you more!”

“You were so busy already, you did everything you could.”

“Y-you but you got-”

“That's not your fault, Jisungie.”

“Hyung...” Minho pulled away from his boyfriend enough to wipe the remains of tears away again before kissing Jisung. The younger buried his hands in Minho's shirt, pulling him closer while kissing back desperately. When they broke their kiss Jisung laid his head down on his boyfriend's shoulder and cuddled even closer. “Can we spent the rest of the day together? We can call your parents today and leave the rest for tomorrow right? I just want to be close to you as long as I can.”

“Thank you for everything, Jisungie.”

~

“Are you okay?”

“No.”

“Felix-”

“No, I don't want to talk about it!”

 _“Felix, please.”_ Chan said, changing to English. _“Burying everything inside of you will only make it worse. Please talk to me, or Changbin or Seungmin, or anyone if you want. Just don't deal with everything all on your own.”_

For a while Felix stayed quiet, he didn't even look up but preferred staring wholes into the floor of his room. Chan sighed, already about to turn around and leave the boy alone when he suddenly spoke up.

_“I should have helped him more. Make sure he got an easier part or stop him from knowing our parts too much. Maybe then Minho-hyung wouldn't have confused the lyrics.”_

_“Don't blame yourself, please.”_

_“But it's true! We were supposed to do it as a team but we failed, all three of us!”_

Before the tears could fall from Felix's face Chan has already pulled him into a hug. The elder could feel the wetness seeping into his shirt but he didn't care. Not in a situation like this. Definitely not with Felix.

_“If anyone is to blame, it's me. I'm the leader, I should have watched after you three more.”_

_“What? You had your own team to take care of. You had nothing to do with Changbin-hyung and me failing to support Minho-hyung.”_

_“But I **should** have had something to do with it. After the mid-term evaluation... I should have realized you need help. I should have offered my support. But I just kept trying to make my team's performance better.”_

_“Chan, that's ridiculous. You had to take care of Hyunjin! There is no way you could have handled helping both teams.”_

Felix looked up at him with worry in his eyes as he snuggled closer and it only made Chan's heart ache even more. It was obvious Felix was still blaming himself and now he also agonized about their leader.

_“Hyunjin had already improved so much, I should have left him with Seungmin. They would have been fine together but I had to be a stupid perfectionist and try to improve us even further.”_

_“You trusted us, there's nothing wrong about that. We are the one's who made mistakes and betrayed that trust you had in us.”_

_“I still trust you. You three did your best. In the end it just wasn't enough...”_

Felix only nodded. Tears started falling from his eyes again, so Chan brought a hand up and softly tilted the younger's head forward to lean against his shoulder. Low sobs filled the room as Felix clutched at Chan's shirt. Latter closed his eyes while pressing a soft kiss to the top of the blond head.

~

“Hyung...” Seungmin entered the room just in time to see Changbin throw the first thing that fell into his hands, which happened to be a stack of books, down on the floor, scattering the books all across the room. “Changbin-hyung, calm down.”

“Don't fucking tell me what to do!”

“This won't get us anywhere.”

“Just leave me alone then! Nobody's forcing you to stay here!”

Biting his lip, Seungmin took a step forward and opened his arms, only for them to immediately be slapped away. He tried to get closer but Changbin walked backwards, avoiding him.

“Don't touch me!” A tear ran down his cheek while he backed away even further until his back hit the wall. “Don't touch me...” Even more tears flooded his eyes though he tried his best to hide them. Changbin sank down to the floor, buried his head between his knees and willed the tears to stop but it was useless. After a moment he could feel Seungmin's hand carefully setting down on his back, stroking slowly and softly.

“It's not your fault.” He whispered. “It's not your fault. You hear me, Hyung? It's not your fault. Whatever reproaches you may be thinking of. It. is. Not. Your. Fault.” With that he knelt down in front of his friend, wrapped his arms around him and leaned his forehead on top of Changbin's head. “It's not your fault, it's not your fault...”

“Stop repeating it, as if that would change anything!”

“I won't stop until you believe me that you're not at fault, Hyung. You did your best, that's all that matters.”

“Idiot.”

“You're welcome.” Seungmin whispered before kissing Changbin's wet cheek.


	2. Felix

“Chan?” Felix's voice was barely above a whisper as he carefully entered the elder's room.

“Yes? Is there something I can do for you?”

“Just... Can you just hug me?”

“Of course.” Chan got up from his desk, already opening his arms while walking towards Felix, who immediately wrapped his arms around Chan's torso and let the elder hug him tightly. For a long while they stayed like this. Felix eventually closed his eyes, basking in the warmth and comfort and Chan's hand caressing his back.

_“I don't want to leave...”_

_“Nobody wants you to leave. We'd all like you to stay.”_

_“Except pd-nim.”_

_“I'm so sorry, Felix. It's all my fault, I'm sorry.”_

_“What are you saying? It's not your fault.”_

_“I should have helped you more, I should have been there for you from the beginning. After all I went through the same process and got criticized for my Korean. I should have known that you need help, that you need **my** help.”_

When Felix pulled away tears were already rolling down Chan's cheeks and in a matter of seconds Felix was crying as well.

_“Don't do that, please. Don't blame yourself, I was the one who made mistakes.”_

_“But as a leader if I can't prevent mistakes now how will we be able to debut at all? This is already the second time we lose a member. How am I supposed to lead our group properly when I can't even keep everyone together before debut?”_

_“You did nothing wrong! You always work hard and do your best. You support us so much already. Honestly, I think you are and you will be a great leader, no matter how many members there may be.”_ Felix pulled his sleeve over his hand and started wiping away the elder's tears. “Chan-hyung, you're the best leader we could ever ask for.”

“T-thank you, Felix.”

~

Changbin carefully peeked his head into the seemingly empty room, looking around a bit before speaking up. “Seungminie?”

“Yes?” He looked up to see Seungmin laying in his bed with his head lifted up from the pillow a bit.

“How are you feeling?”

“Not so good...”

Rather hesitantly Changbin walked towards the bed until he stood right in front of it. After another moment of thinking he climbed up the ladder and crawled into the bed next to Seungmin. Latter turned around and made an attempt of a smile.

“You know it's not your fault either right?”

“Yeah I know but still... I can't believe we lost another member... Are we even still Stray Kids without Minho-hyung and Felix?”

“Don't say something like that. They will always be part of us, Seungminie. No matter if they're eliminated or debut with another group or whatever, they will always be our friends. Pd-nim can kick them out of our band or throw them out of the company but he can't rip them out of out hearts.”

“That's really sweet Changbin-hyung.”

“I'm not sweet!”

“You are!” Seungmin giggled. Before the elder could protest again Seungmin started tickling him, resulting in Changbin laughing out loud and curling his body to try and protect his stomach.

“St-stop it! Hahaha!” He frantically swatted his hands around, trying to get Seungmin's arms away. When that proved useless he surrendered to his fate and instead went even more into fetus position. His last resort was to choke out “Please, Seungminie!” between his giggles.

“See? Sweet.” Seungmin whispered, finally stopping his torture but keeping his hands on Changbin's stomach. The elder turned to look at him and absentmindedly shook his head. Somehow he couldn't stop looking into Seungmin's eyes and before he realized what's happening they were both inching closer and their lips were touching and they were kissing. It was shy and gentle and far too short. “Really sweet.” Seungmin added with a smile.

“Just shut it.” Changbin hissed, though he grinned as he did it and immediately leaned in for another kiss.

~

For a moment Jisung remained standing in the door frame and watched his boyfriend practice his dancing. Being completely focused on his steps Minho doesn't even notice him at first. But the moment their eyes meet in the mirror Minho immediately smiles at him and swirls around, though his face quickly falls again when he takes a closer look at Jisung.

“What's wrong, Honey?”

“Felix he...”

“No... Please no, he got eliminated as well?” Jisung only nodded. In no time his boyfriend pulled him into the room, closed the door behind them and hugged him tightly. Sneaking his arms around Minho's back Jisung snuggled closer, leaned his forehead on his boyfriend's shoulder and enjoyed the soft kisses which are being placed on his cheek and on top of his hairs.

“It hurts, Hyung. It feels like we're falling apart.”

“We're not! Nothing can break our bonds. Especially no elimination.”

“You think so?”

“Of course! What happened after the elimination was announced?”

“I hugged Felix.”

“Just you?”

“Everyone hugged him.”

“And?”

“And everyone cried... even Changbin!”

“See? Nobody left Felix alone. You guys took care of him just like you did with me. What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, right?” Jisung lifted his head up to smile at his boyfriend and was immediately gifted with an even brighter smile from Minho who lifts his hand to cup Jisung's face and caress his cheek. “Thank god, you're smiling again. Did I ever tell you how much I love your smile, Jisungie?” Jisung hummed and scrunched his face up in fake thought before shaking his head. Giggling lightly Minho kissed his boyfriend, then leaned their foreheads together. “I really love your smile, baby.”

“And I really love your dancing. Please show me some more, I really need distraction right now.”

“Hm then maybe you should dance with me? Come on.”

Minho pulled him into the middle of the room, taking Jisung's hands and placing them on his shoulders before laying his hands on his boyfriend's hips. Then he started swaying side to side, gently guiding Jisung's hips along. After a moment Jisung started humming a slow melody for them, leaned their foreheads together and closed his eyes. Every now and then they would kiss, kind of lazy and slow but nonetheless lovingly.

“It will be fine, Jisungie. I promise.”


	3. Happy end

“Welcome home!” Everyone cheers while Minho unlocks the door to their dorm. With a bright smile on his face Minho maneuvers himself and his suitcase inside. As soon as he has his shoes off Jisung throws himself at his boyfriend and soon they all are a huge group hug stuffed into their hallway of **their** dorm which is now finally home to all nine of them again.

“I'm so glad we're complete again.” Chan mumbles against someone's, it's too crowded to know for sure whose, shoulder. Everybody hums in agreement and tightens their embrace. They stay like this for a while until Jisung speaks up.

“Guys, we should throw a party.”

~

Shortly afterwards music is playing and everyone is eating snacks, chattering around happily and hugs take place everywhere. Of course Minho and Felix are included in most of said hugs. After a while they decide to toast their reunification. Woojin and Chan grab themselves a beer. When Changbin tires to do the same Chan interferes by slapping his hand.

“Ouch!”

“You're not of age yet.”

“Seriously?”

“Yup.”

“It's not even two weeks anymore.”

“Still.”

When the others realize what is going on they all gather around Chan and start pleading. He tries to resist but Felix taking his hand, pouting and saying “Please, Hyung.” makes him give in with a sigh.

“Fine.” Suddenly the kids are cheering, Woojin hands over a bottle of beer to Changbin and Felix is pressing a thank-you-kiss to Chan's cheek. Because of that Chan's heart immediately starts racing at full speed. He has had a crush on Felix for a while now but instead of going away it just seems to get worse. Clearing his throat Chan gathers everyone around him and raises his bottle. “Everyone, can I have your attention for a moment? I... I'd like to thank you all. We've been through a lot together. We went through eliminations, endured all-nighters and underwent fights. Whatever happened we eventually managed everything together. After this short time it feels like we've been friends for all my life. I'm really thankful to have you guys. Thank you for letting me be the leader of a group this kind-hearted, talented and hard-working. Cheers.” It's hard to hold back his tears of joy as they all clink glasses, respectively bottles, though it becomes impossible the moment he sees Jisung wiping his eyes. A few tears roll down his cheeks and immediately everybody is forming a huge group hug around him again. The next time they clink glasses Jisung makes a toast on their great leader.

Afterwards all their couples, Jisung and Minho and since Felix's elimination also Changbin and Seungmin, start kissing. Though Seungmin quickly breaks their kiss with a loathing expression on his face.

“You taste like beer!”

“I'm not an expert but it might be because I just drank beer.” At that Seungmin untangles himself from his boyfriend, turns away and crosses his arms in front of his chest. Changbin rolls his eyes and everybody starts laughing, expecting that he will probably empty his beer over Seungmin's head. But then he sets his bottle down and wraps his hands around Seungmin's throat. For a moment they think he is going to playfully strangle his boyfriend but he just holds him in place while kissing Seungmin's cheek. Though when everyone starts cooing at their cuteness Changbin threatens to strangle all of them in their sleep.

~

After a few hours Chan is the first one to become tired and decide to go to bed. He makes sure Woojin knows that he is in charge now before going to his room. Though a few seconds afterwards the door already opens again.

“Chan?”

“Is something the matter, Felix?”

“No just... I don't think I had the chance to thank you properly.”

“Thank me?”

“For everything, for including me in your team, for always supporting me, helping me with my Korean, being there for me when I feel homesick, everything!” While talking Felix makes excited little gestures with his hand and it's obvious that he is still thrilled from their life broadcast and the final result. “Really, thank you so much. This was the best year of my life thank to all of you and now that all of us will debut together I'm sure a lot more awesome years will follow. I still can't believe we actually did it! I mean I could just- just-”

“Just?”

Suddenly Felix surges forward, grabs Chan's face and crushes their lips together. Everything freezes. Chan's hands just awkwardly hover in the air, he expected a hug, a high five, anything like that. But definitely not a kiss. Especially not one that is this rushed and energetic. After a moment Felix breaks away, his hands still on Chan's cheeks and eyes wide in shook at what he just did.

_”Crap! Sorry! I- I uhh I'm-”_

_“Don't apologize.”_ Chan murmurs, settling one hand on Felix's waist and the other on his cheek and pulling him in for another kiss. A surprised yelp escapes Felix's mouth but is muffled by Chan's lips on his. Soon he relaxes into the touch, lets his hands drop down to Chan's shoulders, kisses back eagerly. After they break apart they just look at each other for a moment, both of them blushing but smiling widely. “So... boyfriends?”

_”I'm sorry what did you say? My Korean isn't the best.”_

_“Oh no, you understood me just fine, you brat.”_

Suddenly Chan starts tickling Felix. The latter bursts out laughing and tries to squirm away but it's useless. Soon he gives in with a choked out _“Okay! Okay!”_ When Chan stops Felix takes the elder's hands into his for safety. “Yes, I want to be your boyfriend, Hyung.”

“Oh wow, so formal.”

 _”Shut up and kiss me.”_ And that's exactly what he does.


End file.
